"People who talk about education have forever been mouthing aphorisms
about teaching students to think for themselves. It is the holy grail
of teaching. Everyone believes it, but very few do much about it."
Roger
Hutchins P19 www.edge.org/3rd_culture/hillis04/hillis04_index.html
With the advent
of high speed internet gateways and rich web-based information resources
it has become viable to implement the inquiry learning method. Below
is an introduction to this process.
Two
"standout" implications of this process:
1.
Learners will not be ability to "know" anywhere near the
same amount of content using this approach as the focus of the inquiry
learning process is on understanding concepts built on a stronger
but narrower knowledge base.
2.
The balance shifts from educator centred learning to a learner centred
approach.
The inquiry method
of teaching and learning is built on some of the principles espoused
by John Dewey who asserted that children are natural learners and
are naturally curious. From the New Zealand web site "living
heritage"
"Memorising
facts and information is not the most important skill in today's world.
Facts change, and information is readily available – what’s
needed is an understanding of how to find, make sense of, and use
relevant information for specific purposes."
http://www.livingheritage.org.nz/started/inquirylearn.shtml
It
is critical that the inquiry process is cognitively appropriate
[see book for more detail
on this]
Stage
1.
There
are then a series of development processes that are outlined in the
book that allow the inquiry process to develop to the final stage
below. What is critical is that the inquiry process is a gradual acquisition
of skills and competencies over 12-13 years
